Knitting-machine.



No. 727.522- Y PATBNTED MAY 5. 1903. L. N. D. WILLIAMS.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14, 1901.

No. 727,522. Patented May 5, 1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS N. D. \VILLIAMS, OF ASHBOURNE, PENNS YL VANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- I-IALF TO ROBERT \V. SCOTT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,522, dated. May 5, 1903.

Application filed December 14, 1901. Serial No. 85,934. (No model.) i

To to whom it may concern: far as its general structure is concerned may Be it known that I, LOUIS N. D. W'ILLIAMS, be similar to many of those now in common a citizen of the United States, residing in Ashuse. bourne, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, With the needles of the cylinder are alterhave invented certain Improvements in Knitnated hooks 7 for engaging the fleecing-yarn, ting-Machines, of which the following is a it being understood that the knitting-yarn specification. and the fleecing-yarn are intended to be fed The object of my invention is to so conto the machine by separate feeders in the struct a knitting-machine as to provide fineusual way. The books? are reciprocated by X0 gage grooves or guides for the needles, hooks, a cam structure 9 on the cam-cylinder 3, so or other yarn-engaging elements at the edge as to rise, engage the fleecing-yarn, and draw of the needle carrier where the stitches or loops of the same between the stitches formed loops are drawn without the necessity of proby the cylinder-needles, the upper ends of the viding grooves of like fine gage for the guidhooks 7 being guided in grooves at the top of I5 ance of the stem or shanks of said needles, the needle-cylinder, which grooves alternate hooks, or other yarn-engaging elements. with the grooves wherein the upperends of the When my invention is used in connection cylinder-needles are guided. The upper end with a machine for producing fabrics having of the cylinder has, therefore, tobe out twice a fleecing-yarn inserted therein, it permits of as fine as if the hooks 7 were not employed, 7o 20 the use of one and the same cam-carrier for and in making machines of fine gage itisboth both the needle-operating cams and for those difficult and expensive to provide between which operate the hooks which engage the the adjoininggrooves wallsof sufficientthickfleecing-yarn. ness, for the grooves must not only be wide In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is enough to permit of the passage of the nee- 2 5 a vertical sectional view of sufficient of an dles and hooks, but must also permit the latordinary form of ribknitting machine to illuster to draw down the stitches of knitting-yarn trate the application of myinvention thereto. or loops of fleecing-yarn below the tops of Fig. 2 is a face view of part of the needle-cylsaid walls. In machines of fine gage I thereinder of the machine. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fore form the grooves for the guidance of the 3o sectional view of the upper portion of said needles andhooks by means of trough-shaped needle-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a top or plan View strips 10, preferably of thin sheet metal bent of the same. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. into the trough form,and which I term 2, but illustrating another means of carrying quills, the bases of these quills being let outmyinvention; and Figs. 6 and7are views into grooves at the top of the cylinder and 35 illustratingaspecial feature of myinvention. secured therein by soldering, brazing, or in I have shown in the drawings in order to any other available manner, so that the space illustrate myinvention part of a rib-knitting between the projecting flanges of each quill machine intended to producea fabrichaving will form a guide for a needle, and the space a fleecing-yarn combined therewith, 1 reprebetween the flanges of adjoining quills will 0 4o senting part of the needle-cylinder of the maform a guide for a hook, or vice versa, or

chine; 1 the cylinder-needles; 2, part of the when the invention is applied to a plain-knitneedle-dial; 2 the dial-needles; 3, part of ting machine each space will serve asa guide the cam-cylinder, and 4 part of the dial camfor the hooked upper end of a needle. The plate, the cam-cylinder havingasuitable cam quills can be made of sheet metal and yet 45 structure 5 for imparting vertical reciprocastillpossess the requisite strength,the Ll form tion to the cylinder-needlesd and the dial rendering them extremelyrigid. They can, cam-plate having a cam structure 6 for imhowever, be formed by milling or swaging a parting horizontal reciprocation to the dial- Wire or strip of metal, and, if desired, their needles 2 in the usual manner. flanges can be thicker at the bases than at the 50 It has not been deemed necessary to illustopsas shown, for instance, at 10 and 10 trate a complete machine, as the machine so in Figs. 6 and 7so as to snugly guide the I needles or hooks and yet provide spaces at their upper ends for the drawing of the loops or'stitches.

In order to avoid the fine cutting of the body of the cylinder for thereception and guidance of the stems or shanks of the neodles and hooks, I provide for the guidance of the shank of each needle and the shank of its adjoining hook in one and the same groove, either by disposing one shank below the other in the groove, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or

by disposing the two shanks side by side in each needle of the pair.

the groove, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby reducing by one-half the number of grooves and intervening walls which would be required if the ordinary method of manufacture was adopted. This involves the lateral bending of the outer or acting end of the needle or hook, or both, so that the operative ends of the same Will alternate and will be equidistantly disposed around the top of the cylinder. In the present instance I have shown the books 7 as the bent elements, the lateral bend being shown at 11 in Fig. 2. Where the elements are disposed one below the other in the groove, the inner one will also have to be bent forwardly at the outer end-as shown, for instance, at 12 in Fig. 1this bend being also shown in the hook 7; but the lateral bend may be formed in one of the elements and the forward bend in the other, if desired, or where the shanks of the needle and hook are disposed side by side the lateral bend only will be necessary, as shown in Fig. 5, and this bend may be formed either in the hook or in the needle, or in the case of a plainknitting machine the bend may be formed in either needle of the pair or a lesser bend in The butts of the needles and hooks are of course arranged in different planes, so that the needle and hook operating cams can likewise be disposed in difierent planes and will not interfere with each other. The same principle may be adopted in connection with reciprocating webholders, and in machines in which web-holders separate from the needle-carrier areused the needles, books, or other yarn-engaging elements may be guided between said Webholders instead of by grooves formed in the outer portion of the needle-carrier.

Although my invention is especially designed for application to ribknitting machines which employ a fleecing-yarn and in which hooks for engaging said yarn alternate with the needles, it is not limited in its application to such machine, but may be adapted to plain-knitting machines as well. Hence in some of the claims I have used the term yarn-engaging elements as indicating either needles, hooks, web-holders, or the like, and it will be evident that the disposal of the yarn-engaging elements which I have ,shown in connection with the cylinder can be adopted in connection with the dial as well, the invention, moreover, being applicable to machines in which the needle-cylinder and dial are stationary and the cam-cylinder and cam-plate are intended to rotate, as in the drawings, or to machines in which the reverse construction is adopted-that is to say, in which the needle-cylinder and dial rotate and the cam-cylinder and dial cam-plate are stationary-the use of the quills for forming the grooves at the outer end of the needlecarrier being applicable to single-knitting machines as well as to rib-knitting machines and the various features of my invention being capable of use in straight machines as well as circular'machines and in machines using spring-beard needles as well as machines using latch-needles.

In order to provide for the free passage of the fleecing-loops with the fabric as the latter is drawn down from the needles, I cause the quills 10 to project above the upper end of the needle-cylinder, the top of the latter being so far below the tops of the quills as to provide sufficient clearance between the same and the dial for the unobstructed passage of the loops of fleecing-thread between the two.

WVhile I have shown the grooves in the body of the needle-carrier as adapted for the guidance of two adjoining yarn-engaging elements, they may receive three or more of the same, if desired, the number of grooves at the end of the carrier being correspondingly multiplied.

I am aware of the patent of Joseph Heginbothom, No. 182,822, dated October 3, 1876, in which the needles were disposed side by side with interposed sliding bits, fixed separator-strips being disposed at intervals, and hence I do not claim any such construction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent 1. A knitting-machine-needle carrier having the guide-grooves at its outer end formed by trough-shaped strips secured to said needle-carrier, substantially as specified.

2. A knitting-machine-needle carrier having the guide-grooves at its outer end formed by trough-shaped strips secured to said needle-carrier, the flanges of said strips being wider at the bases than at the tops, substantially as specified.

8. A knitting-machine-needle carrier having the grooves at its outer end formed by means of trough-shaped strips let into recesses in the needle-carrierand secured therein, substantially as specified.

4. A knitting-machine-needle carrier having the guide-grooves at its outer end formed by strips of sheet metal bent into trough shape and secured to said needle-carrier, substantially as specified.

5. A knitting-machine-needle carrier having secured to its outer end trough-shaped strips, each forming a guide-groove between its projecting flanges, said strips being spaced so as to form other guide-grooves between adjoining strips, substantially as specified.

6. A knitting-machine needle,hook,or other yarn-engaging element having its hooked end and butted shank formed in one piece and having between its outer yarn-engaging end and that portion of the stem or shank upon which the butt is formed, two bends, the first being a lateral bond with respect to the hook, and the other a forward bend, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of a knitting-machineneedle carrier having two or more times as many grooves in its outer portion as in that portion which guides the stems or shanks of the yarn-engaging elements, with said yarnengaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the members of each pair or group being independent of each other throughout and the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being guided in separate grooves in the outer portion of the carrier, the ends of said grooves projecting beyond the ends of the yarn-engaging elements when the latter are retracted, substantially as specified.

S. The combination of a knitting-machineneedle carrier, with yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the members of each pair or group being independent of each other throughout, and the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being separately guided in grooves disposed side by side at the outer end of the carrier, one or more of the pairs or groups of yarn-engaging elements being bent laterally at the point between the inner and outer guides, substantially as specified.

9. The combination of aknitting-machineneedle carrier having two or more times as many grooves disposed side by side in its outer portion as in that portion which guides the stems or shanks of the yarn-engaging elements, with said yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the members of each pair or group being independent of each other throughout, and the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being guided in separate side-by-side grooves in the outer portion of the carrier, one or more of the pair or group of said yarn-engaging elements being bent laterally in the space between the two grooved portions of the carrier, substantially as specified.

10. The combination of aknitting-machineneedle carrier, with yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the members of each pair or group being independent of each other throughout, and the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being separately guided in grooves of the needle-carrier, some of said yarn-engaging elements being bent forwardly at a point between the inner and outerguides, substantially as specified.

11. Thecombinationofaknitting-machineneedle carrier having two or more times as many grooves disposed side by side in its outer portion as in that portion which guides the stems or shanks of the yarn-engaging elements with said yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the members of each pair or group being independent of each other throughout, and the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being guided in separate side-by-side grooves, in the outer portion of the carrier, some of said yarn-engaging elements being bent forwardly in the space between the two grooved portions of the carrier, substantially as specified.

12. Thecombination ofaknitting-machineneedle carrier, with yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn-engaging ends being separately guided in grooves of the needle-carrier, one of said pair or group of yarn-engaging elements being bent both laterally and forwardly at a point between the inner and outer guides, substantially as specified.

13. The combination of a knitting-machineneedle carrier having two or more times as many grooves disposed side by side in its outerportion as in that portion which guides the stems or shanks of the yarn-engaging ele ments, with said yarn-engaging elements disposed in pairs or groups, the stems or shanks of each pair or group being guided in one and the same groove of the needle-carrier, but their outer or yarn engaging ends being guided in separate side-by-side grooves in the outer portion of the carrier, one of said pair or group of yarn-engaging elements being bent both laterally and forwardly in the space between the two grooved portions of the carrier, substantially as specified.

14. The combination in a rib-knitting machine, of a needle-carrier having twice as many grooves in the outer portion as in the lower or inner portion, knitting-needles and fleece-yarn-engaging hooks alternating with each other and each guided near its yarn-engaging end in one of the grooves at the outer end of the carrier, the ends of said grooves projecting beyond the ends of the yarn-engaging elements when thelatter are retracted, the stem or shank of a needle and the stem or shank of an adjoining hook being guided in one and the same groove in the lower or inner portion of the carrier, substantially as specified.

15. The combination in a rib-knitting machine, of a needle-carrier having twice as many grooves disposed side by side in the outer portion as in the lower or inner portion, knitting-needles and fleece-yarn-engaging hooks alternating with each other and each guided near its yarn-engaging end in one of the grooves at the outer end of the carrier, the stem or shank of a needle and the stem or shank of an adjoining hook being guided in one and the same groove in the lower or inner portion of the carrier, and either or both being bent laterally in the space between the two grooved portions of the carrier, substantially as specified.

16. The combination in a rib-knitting machine, of a needle-carrier having twice as many grooves in the outer portion as in the lower or inner portion, knitting-needles and flecoe-yarn-engaging hooks alternating with each other and each guided near its yarn-engaging end in one of the grooves at the outer end, of the carrier, the stem or shank of a needle and the stem or shank of an adjoining hook being guided in one and the same groove in the lower or inner portion of the carrier, and each fieece-yarn-engaging hook being bent both laterally and forwardly in that portion which is between the two grooved portions of the carrier, substantially as specified. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS. Witnesses:

WALTER OHIsM, J 0s. H. KLEIN. 

